144: Adventures in Rum Experimentation at South Africa's Mhoba Distillery

Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.In this episode we finally caught up with Robert Greaves, founder of Mhoba Rum, the South African cane juice rum distillery that's pumped out a steady supply of distinctive, high-octane ester bombs over the last several years.Robert's been on our list ever since we heard he not only founded the distillery, but also built most of it himself, from the pot stills to the sugarcane press. He also brought his distiller, Shaldon Engelbrecht, along for the ride, who's behind many of the distillery's current experiments in high ester rum production.Completing the guest triumvirate is Eric Kaye of Holmes Cay, who is bringing a handful of cool Mhoba releases to the U.S. right now, both under the distillery's label and his own.We discussed:What it was like to have Richard Seale try the rum in Mhoba's early daysThe unique process behind their "Select" unaged rumThe influence of Martinique and Jamaican production styles on MhobaAdventures in extended, high acid fermentationsHow their unique new high ester blend "The Shaldon" came to beThe perils and potential of aging rum in peated whisky casksAnd much more!Related links:The Mhoba websiteRum Revelations' Mhoba travelogue (great pictures and details on the distillery)All the details on Holmes Cay's latest Mhoba bottles